Keeping it Civil with clinic protestors
Hi! I've been an escort for the past few years, and I've got an opinion about protestors that I think is in the minority, and I'd like to share it and see what comes up.
I've escorted at two different clinics, and at one of them, the front door to the clinic is on the sidewalk, and protestors can literally stand less than a foot away from the door. So I've been chatted up by protestors while escorting, and have had conversations with several of them. So far they all seem aflicted with the exceptional insanity that is mono-theistic religion, and while we can agree that abortions are never a primary goal in life, none of the protestors want to do anything effective about reducing abortions either (like real sex education).
Anyways, I've gotten to know a few of the protestors, and we share a similar desire to keep things civil. I've used this to positive affect, when another escort got into a heated discussion with another protestor, and I was able to use my limited conversational skills to tell a joke, as in, "So...anyone want to hear a joke?" The civil protestor played along and I was able to re-direct a previously heated conversation into something less volatile.
So here's the thing: My attitude is that some protestors are interested in keeping things civil and I'm inclined to act favorably to them so as to develop this civil relationship. When I say "act favorably to them", it means greeting them (pleasantly) when I arrive at the clinic and before I don my uniform, wishing them a good day at the end of the shift, and allowing them to have civil conversations with patients (if the patient feels like it).
Most other escorts that I've spoken to about this seem to paint all protestors with the same brush and think that a difference of opinion on choice means that the person is incorrigibly stupid or evil and not deserving of politeness.
Do any other escorts have a similarly civil attitude towards protestors? (Maybe I'm just lucky that the paid protestors at my two clinics are civil too.)
I've escorted at two different clinics, and at one of them, the front door to the clinic is on the sidewalk, and protestors can literally stand less than a foot away from the door. So I've been chatted up by protestors while escorting, and have had conversations with several of them. So far they all seem aflicted with the exceptional insanity that is mono-theistic religion, and while we can agree that abortions are never a primary goal in life, none of the protestors want to do anything effective about reducing abortions either (like real sex education).
Anyways, I've gotten to know a few of the protestors, and we share a similar desire to keep things civil. I've used this to positive affect, when another escort got into a heated discussion with another protestor, and I was able to use my limited conversational skills to tell a joke, as in, "So...anyone want to hear a joke?" The civil protestor played along and I was able to re-direct a previously heated conversation into something less volatile.
So here's the thing: My attitude is that some protestors are interested in keeping things civil and I'm inclined to act favorably to them so as to develop this civil relationship. When I say "act favorably to them", it means greeting them (pleasantly) when I arrive at the clinic and before I don my uniform, wishing them a good day at the end of the shift, and allowing them to have civil conversations with patients (if the patient feels like it).
Most other escorts that I've spoken to about this seem to paint all protestors with the same brush and think that a difference of opinion on choice means that the person is incorrigibly stupid or evil and not deserving of politeness.
Do any other escorts have a similarly civil attitude towards protestors? (Maybe I'm just lucky that the paid protestors at my two clinics are civil too.)